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Meet Manchester's Movie Star

Manchester, Vermont - November 23, 2009

Hanging out with a kid can make you feel pretty tall, but listening to what Sophie Nyweide has accomplished brings you back down to size.

This 9 year old has criss-crossed the globe. She explains, "I've been to Sweden. [And] I went to Berlin, Germany."

Nyweide has a career in the movies. The Manchester elementary schooler has a growing list of feature film credits, from a gig in 2007's Bella to a current drama, Mammoth, now playing in big cities. "I saw a lot of movies and it looks so easy to be up there. But it's harder than it looks," Nyweide laughs.

Acting is in Nyweide's blood. Her mother, Shelly Gibson, has appeared in a couple hundred TV commercials, along with soap operas and prime time series. Their family business is running the Village Picture Shows Cinema in Manchester. Gibson chuckles, "She knows what it's like to sweep out the movie theater after people squish Milk Duds on the floor, and she knows what it's like to star in a movie."

Gibson used to bring her baby along with her to auditions, where scouts commented little Sophie was pretty even-tempered and could handle being on set herself. She soon was having as many try-outs as mom.

Asked if it's ever hard to work on a movie and say goodbye to her friends, Nyweide explains, "I know I'll see them again, but for that period of time, yeah!"

The 4th grader has another movie coming out in the Spring, in which she stars alongside Jessica Alba. Despite the red carpet life, the young performer's mom wants to ensure as normal a life as possible for Nyweide. "I think her friends here in Vermont would take her down a few notches if she started to brag," Gibson chuckles.

Gibson reminds her daughter to say "thank you" and to mean it. The 9 year old also knows movies can be a tough business: "I know what it's like to be left on the cutting room floor," she chuckles.

She's hoping to eventually break out from independent films to major Hollywood releases. "I want to keep acting when I grow up. And I also want to be a doctor. And a snowboarder," chirps Nyweide.

Sophie Nyweide seems to be living the title of another actress's movie: A Star is Born. But she promises to stay grounded: "I'll do a movie then come back to Vermont, where I'm a normal 4th grader."

Jack Thurston - WCAX News